Daily News Analysis (Prelims + Mains) – 9th November 2018
General Study – II
Topic:
Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Agreement between India and Morocco
Union Cabinet has approved the Agreement between India and Morocco on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters.
Agreement wlll be beneficial for the citizens of both the countries and boosts the bonds of friendship and fruitful cooperation in the Civil and Commercial matters, which is the spirit, essence and language of the agreement.
It will enhance co-operation in the service of summons, judicial documents, letters of request and the execution of judgments decrees and arbitral awards.
India and Morocco Relations
India and Morocco have interacted in historical terms going back to the 14th century when the famous traveler and writer from Tangier, Ibn Batuta travelled to India.
In modern history, India was active in the UN supporting the Moroccan freedom movement and recognized Morocco in 1956 when it became independent of the protectorate arrangements with France and diplomatic Missions were established in 1957. Since the establishment of relations, India and Morocco have enjoyed cordial and friendly ties.
India–Morocco relations refers to the bilateral ties between Morocco and India. Morocco has an embassy in New Delhi. It also has an Honorary Consul based in Mumbai. India operates an embassy in Rabat. Both nations are part of the Non-Aligned Movement.
ECONOMIC & COMMERCIAL RELATIONS
In 2017, trade between the two countries stood at US $1.32 billion. India mainly Imports phosphate, Indian exports are textiles, chemical products, petroleum products, medicinal products, pharmaceuticals, plastics, spices, etc.
CULTURAL RELATIONS
There is an enduring interest in Morocco for Indian art and culture. Bollywood films are very popular in Morocco and Moroccan TV regularly telecasts Indian feature film every week.
A Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) between Indian and Morocco for the years 2016-19 was signed May-June 2016.
INDIAN COMMUNITY
The Indian community in Morocco is made up of two parts-the diaspora and the expatriate community. Most of them are based out of the city of Casablanca, since it is the commercial and trade hub of Morocco and engaged in businesses of import/export of textiles and electronic goods.
The major part of the Indian community in Casablanca comprises of the Sindhi community that had migrated during the time of India’s partition.
The expatriate community of Indians in Morocco represent the top Indian enterprises namely, TATA, Birla and many others.
The Strait of Gibraltar
Its narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco and Ceuta in Africa. It has Maximum depth of 900 meters and Mean depth of 365 meters.
Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. It is disputed between British and Spain.
General Study – II
Topic:
Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
Central Tribal University
The “Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh” will be set up in Relli village of Vizianagaram District as provided under the Thirteenth Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
India’s First tribal university is Indira Gandhi Tribal University in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh and Second is in tribal dominated Jharkand state.
Tribes in India
Tribe is group which possesses certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political entity.
The nature of what constitutes an Indian tribe and the very nature of tribes have changed considerably over the course of centuries, but certain characteristics have remained.
Constitution of India has recognized tribal communities in India under ‘Schedule 5’ of the constitution. Hence the tribes recognized by the Constitution are known as ‘ Scheduled Tribes’.
Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
Under Article 342,
- The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a state, after consultation with the Governor there of by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall, for the purposes of this constitution, is deemed to be scheduled tribes in relation to that state or Union Territory, as the case may be.
- Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled tribes specified in a notification issued under clause(1) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid, a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.
The list of Scheduled Tribes is State/UT specific and a community declared as a Scheduled Tribe in a State need not be so in another State. The inclusion of a community as a Scheduled Tribe is an ongoing process.
The essential characteristics of these communities are:
- Primitive Traits
- Geographical isolation
- Distinct culture
- Shy of contact with community at large
- Economically backward
Tribal groups are at different stages of social, economic and educational development. While some tribal communities have adopted a mainstream way of life, at the other end of the spectrum, there are certain Scheduled Tribes known as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), there are total 75 PVTGs in the country which are characterised by
- pre-agriculture level of technology
- stagnant or declining population
- extremely low literacy
- subsistence level of economy
General Study – III
Topic:
Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads,Airports, Railways etc.
Leasing out six airports through PPP
Union Cabinet has given “In-principle” approval for leasing out six airports of Airport Authority of India viz. Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru for operation, management and development under Public Private Partnership (PPP) through Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC).
Advantages of leasing
- PPP in infrastructure projects brings efficiency in service delivery, World class infrastructure , expertise, enterprise and professionalism apart from harnessing the needed investments in the public sector the airports being managed under the PPP model include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin.
- The PPP airports in India have been ranked among the top 5 in their respective categories by the Airports Council International (ACI) in terms of Airport Service Quality (ASQ).
Topic for Prelims
Gujarati New Year
It is celebrated on the next day of Diwali.
Gujarati New Year is synonymous with sudekam of the kartik month – it is the first day of first month of Gujarati calender.